Good Friends

Lucky remembered me! (And he wasn't even wearing Jacob's suit.) Cam & Chris (former elders Soane & Hamilton) came down to Mesa with their buddy Ryan. One of their investigators was getting baptized. They arrived early, early Saturday morning and left late, late Saturday night.
Chris gave us (Brandon) a Frisbee for Christmas. But this wasn't just any Frisbee, it was their team Frisbee from BYU. They played for awhile-just so Brandon could have another chance to show him how it's done. But then Brandon introduced a new game that Jessica gave him for his birthday. It's kind of like Simon Says and Turbo Twist combined. Each player gets a colored band and scans it into the ball. Depending on what game you choose, the ball calls out where to toss the ball. A perfect game for Chris....

...since he's color blind.

But Brandon's plan to beat him at something failed again since Chris' photographic memory trumped being color blind.

It was fun to take a few minutes and catch up with Cam and Chris. Ryan was a good moderator. I wish they'd had a camera in the car with them. Chris glanced at google maps and 'memorized' the way down-so no else was allowed to drive. To help him stay awake, they sang the whole 10 hour trip down, but Cam would only wake up occasionally to sing snatches of songs and then crash back to oblivion. (Am I getting any of that right?) They drove all night, and we served....pizza. I don't think there were any complaints.

At least Jeffrey was entertained.

This is just about the only chance the kids have of beating the elders at anything....and I'm not sure they were successful.

And no visit is complete until the s'mores. (Guys-Sorry we wimped out and didn't build the fire outside. But you know how it is; Arizona is just sooo cold.) Gotta love Utah-hope you're having fun!

Taylor is awesome. Last night, he and his friends (Chad, Adam & Kyle) got dressed up and went out with different missionaries. They came back to our house and lifted weights, built a fire and stayed up for who knows how long. In the morning, they met back up with the missionaries at 5:30 (a.m., yes a.m.) to lift weights. Then they came back to our house while the missionaries had their study time. They made up a huge bowl of pancake batter and started making pancakes for everyone in the house. They ended up with this monster. Later, when I was getting ready to leave, I walked down the hall and heard them in Taylor's room studying their scriptures to get ready

to go back out with the missionaries. What a way to spend your Saturday! Taylor, Jessica and Amanda met Mark and I in Mesa for a missionary meeting. Elder David Bednar and Elder Snow were in town for leadership training and asked to meet with a group of our missionaries. One of my favorite parts of the day was going to the grocery store with Amanda while she told me the impressions and aha moments she had during the meeting.

Jessica came home and did a different kind of dressing up. Her friend Lizzie came over and did her hair and make-up. (We love Lizzie!) Jessica got on her most formal dress (she and Lizzie went looking for something warmer without spending a fortune, but couldn't find anything) and waited. The plan was, well Jessica didn't know the plan. Her friend Walker asked her out and told her to dress up. He came in a tux.

They met another couple and drove down to the new light rail station that just opened in Mesa. They rode up and down the light rail in their 'formal' attire, dined at McDonald's, had dessert at a crazy little sandwich shop that specializes in cookies and ice cream with every possible combination of the two (I gotta go there!), and had a great time puzzling everyone around them. It sounded really silly and like a lot of fun. I'll let her post more if she wants. I wish they had pictures all together, but I was allowed to ask.

Jeffrey helped her pass the time, and then of course I got out my camera and she was patient for at least one or two pictures. Jeffrey isn't pleased there's a picture of him kissing his sister on the blog but I need a record of how sweet he is to his big sister. He's a good little brother.

Yes, this is the same picture. I was trying to fiddle with the photo editor a little bit, except I didn't get past the quick fix menus. A digital photography class is on my wish list for the future. Anybody up for a class in, oh, say 2 years? Maybe Janea will just come down and teach me what to do.

beautiful